RA Human Rights Defender draws EU ambassadors to problem of applying  detention as preventive measure during election process 

ArmInfo. During a meeting with European diplomats led by the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Vasilis Maragos, the Armenian Ombudsman, Anahit Manasyan, drew attention to the problem of the excessive use of detention as a preventive measure during electoral processes.

According to the press service of the Human Rights Defender (HRD),  the delegation included French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier  Decotigny, Dutch Ambassador Marieke Harriet Monroe-Winter, Belgian  Ambassador Erik de Muynck, and Swedish Ambassador to Armenia Eva  Sundqvist. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia presented the  functions associated with the institution's mandate in electoral  processes, as well as the Ombudsman's Office's main areas of activity  and methodology.

During the meeting, issues related to ensuring human rights in  electoral processes were discussed. In this regard, Manasyan  highlighted the unacceptable forms of speech disseminated during the  election campaign, emphasizing that various instances of aggressive,  discriminatory, hate-mongering, labeling, and insensitive speech that  do not meet human rights standards continue to be recorded.

According to her, in the context of electoral processes, legal  accountability instruments must be applied with equal and uniform  standards, excluding a selective approach. In this context, the  Armenian Ombudsman emphasized that public communications by state  bodies during the pre-election period must be more sensitive and  consistent with human rights principles. The issue of excessive use  of pre-trial detention was also raised during the meeting. Manasyan  noted that arrest is often used in an unclear and uncoordinated  manner, and this area requires systemic reform. At the end of the  meeting, the parties outlined further areas of cooperation in the  field of human rights.

As a reminder, parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for  June 7, 2026. Eighteen political forces-two blocs and 16 parties-are  participating. A total of 2,485,232 citizens are eligible to vote. It  is worth noting that in the run-up to the elections, supporters of  the main opposition forces are detained under wiretaps, usually on  charges of giving or receiving electoral bribes. Notably,  representatives of the ruling party are not subject to wiretaps.  Furthermore, in the run-up to the elections, the Armenian public is  faced with numerous instances of hate speech and the spread of  disinformation, which, according to experts, are coordinated by the  current authorities.